What is hairspray doing in your toolbox?

One of the first things I changed on my Stella was the grips. The stock ones were hard as a brick and boringly plain. In the usual web search for tips on making the switch, I came across multiple recommendations for aerosol hairspray as a good lubricant and glue for putting and keeping the new grips on. All the web posts were right and some hairspray did the trick.

Two plus years, and one sorry trailer ride later, my throttle side grip had come completely off. I slide it back on and rode around for several months with it slipping and sliding around--always smart. And of course, at every stop light I was giving it a whack to slip it back in place.


Finally, last weekend I stopped being lazy and searched the hall closet to see if my trusty can of aerosol hairspray was still around. Since I don't remember the last time I used hairspray on my hair, I was pleasantly surprise to find a can. Off I went to deliver some long overdue TLC to the Stella.

Unlike that first time around, but not surprisingly, the old grip slide right off. I peeled off some of the goopy stuff left over from the original job, sprayed the handlebar end and inside of the grip with hairspray and ta da--back in business.

Think it's about time for the hairspray to live outside with the other scooter tools.

Scooter World!

Getting a new scooter magazine is always super fun--it's even better to see your own stuff inside! Couldn't be more excited to see Polly Scoots in the Dec. 2007/Jan. 2008 edition of Scooter World. Big thank you to all the folks at Scooter World for including my belt buckles in the holiday gift guide!

Go get yourself a copy!

Winter Wonderland

It's cold out there, but at least it's finally pretty. Guess this is the only scoot in our collection hitting "the road" tonight.

Self Portrait

I'm overdue for a post, but also overdue for some good sleep. So I'm stopping in to say hello and, hating to post without a pic, pulling something from my collection. There's a story behind it, but I'll save that for another day.

For now, I'll just peak out from the fragmented wonder of a mirrored turtle mosaic. Never fear, there was a scooter lurking in the background!

$3.61

In case there was any question, the answer is "yes, you should buy a scooter." Even with the prices topping $3 a gallon, it only cost me $3.61 to fill the tank this morning. That should take me about 90 miles on my little 50cc scoot. By rough calculation, that means it will cost me $0.16 in gas to commute to work one way.

Mornings just got a little better.

Progress

Cleaning up a mess is never as fun as making one, but sometimes it just needs to be done. I spent some time over the past week putting things in order and thought I'd take a moment to share the progress and offer a look into the Polly Scoots workroom.

My two main work surfaces are a super-fun peanut shaped red table and a super-functional unconventional workbench. The peanut table came from Ikea; the unconventional workbench was pieced together from pieces found at Community Forklift, a great surplus, salvaged and green building material supply center.

The top of my bench is a solid wood door (which just happened to exactly match the closet doors in my house). One "leg" was the base of a kitchen cabinet; the other was intended as a hanging unit. Together they make my workbench the perfect height--comfortable to stand at while working.

My fall cleaning binge inspired me to create a "shipping center" on one corner of the table devoted to envelopes, bubble wrap, boxes and my trusty scale. I also restocked my "customer appreciation supplies"--thank you cards, coupons and fun freebies to include with every order. Let your holiday shopping begin!

Signs of the Season

I'm in the home stretch of my big fall cleaning project. It wasn't so bad that I've been at it all week, but sometimes it does feel that way. Chipping away at it between everything else has made the project take far longer than expected, but the end is in sight.

Before digging in today, Ryan, the pups and I headed out to the nature preserve for a morning hike. We basked in the signs of the season.